The big push to recycle is having unexpected consequences. In Washington, D.C., and other municipalities, expanded recycling services and larger bins have indeed encouraged residents to recycle more, but that's not always good. Not when they'll try to recycle "almost anything rubber, metal or plastic: garden hoses, clothes hangers, shopping bags, shoes, Christmas lights," according to The Washington Post. Recycling companies' falling profits are due to falling oil prices and less demand abroad; they doubt it's part of a cyclical pattern. David Steiner of Waste Managegent, which is the largest national recycler, says “We want to help our customers, but we are a for-profit business." So cities will have to start making up more of the difference in recycling costs, instead of making a profit, as they once did.
